Have been far from electronics for past week or so, and so unable to "stop by" here. Have far too many photos to post, but will try to control myself!

These hot, humid late-summer East Tennessee days are perfect for roaming the hills in search of butterflies and such. Many late-season blooms are rich with nectar these days, and become "butterfly magnets."

Here are two different species of Skippers enjoying Swamp Milkweed nectar:

Not all Tiger Swallowtails are tiger-colored! Sometimes the females are nearly black. These (along with Spicebush Swallowtails and Black Swallowtails) are mimicking the (very bad-tasting) Pipevine Swallowtails. Here's a dark female Tiger Swallowtail on a teasel bloom, and, for comparison, a Pipevine Swallowtail. We usually see the Pipevine Swallowtails only at higher elevations (where their host plant - dutchman's pipevine - grows), but this one was an unusual visitor - at a roadside near my (low elevation) home. (What do you think, does that old A 70-210 do a good job with the bigger butterflies?)

Of course, not all the butterflies are at the nectar sources. Here's a Common Buckeye taking a sip of "mineral water" on an old gravel road, a Carolina Satyr hiding in the tall field, and a PawPaw Sphinx Moth caterpillar having a fine leafy lunch...

Ditto what Harriet said. I've never seen a zebra swallowtail; am I correct in assuming that they do now come up to northern New England? Knowing that the dark female tiger swallowtail and the Pipevine swallowtail are separate species, I can see the differences. But if I saw those two butterflies in the field, I would surely assume they were the same species!